UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS

Faculty of Arts and Letters

España, Manila, Philippines

“I KILL GIANTS: A FIERY BATTLE AGAINST MENTAL HEALTH DISORDER”

A final requirement for the subject course Literature and Great Works

Submitted by:

Jade Veronique V. Yap

2JRN2

Submitted to:

Mr. Paolo Tenchavez

December 13, 2019

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 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS
Faculty of Arts and Letters
España, Manila, Philippines

Table of Contents

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………... 3

Thesis Statement ……………………………………………………………………………… 5

Definition of Terms ……………………………………………………………………………. 6

Background of the Graphic Novel …………………………………………………………….7

Discussion Proper ………………………………………………………………………………9

Conclusion…………………………………………………………………...…………………13

Bibliography Citations…………………………………………………………………………14

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 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS
Faculty of Arts and Letters
España, Manila, Philippines

INTRODUCTION

We all have our own fears. Even the bravest person in this world have their fair
share of theirs. May it be a fear for physical objects like arachnophobia (the fear of
spiders) or psychological fear of death (thanatophobia). It is an inevitable part of our life
that we have to deal as long as we live.

Fears are part of our reality and these fears will either break or make us and we
should take a responsibility in overcoming it to become a brave, bold and a better human
being.

Fears are sometimes good that it helps us to cope up with challenges, however
some fears live inside us and eventually win. Those fears locked up inside will lead to
anxiety and give us a certain trauma that triggers our emotions and mental state once we
encounter them again.

Anxiety is a mental health condition that causes feelings of worry, fear, or tension.
Anxiety disorders are common and according to the Anxiety and Depression Association
of America, there are about 40 million people in the United States suffering from this
mental health problem.

The causes behind anxiety and anxiety disorders are pretty much complicated.
Combination of factors which includes genetic and environmental reasons play a huge
role in developing anxiety and anxiety disorders. However, some events, emotions, or
experiences may cause symptoms of anxiety to begin or may make them worst. These
elements are called triggers.

Anxiety triggers can be different for each person, but many triggers are common
among people with these conditions. Most people find they have multiple triggers. But for
some people, anxiety attacks can be triggered for no reason at all. (Holland, 2018)

Moreover, mental disorders among children are described as serious changes in

the way children typically learn, behave, or handle their emotions, causing distress and
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 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS
Faculty of Arts and Letters
España, Manila, Philippines

problems getting through the day. One of the most common mental disorders that
can be diagnosed in childhood are anxiety and behavior disorders. (Bitsko et al, 2013)

One of the most common causes of childhood trauma and anxiety are
unprecedented life situations. Situations that occur in a child's life can be stressful and
difficult to cope with. Loss, serious illness, death of a loved one, violence, dysfunctional
homes or abuse can lead some kids to become anxious.

On a survey conducted by the National Survey of Children’s Health there are about
7.1% children (approximately 4.4 million) from the United States aged 3-17 years old have
diagnosed anxiety and 3.2 % children (approximately 1.9 million) have diagnosed
depression (Ghandour et al, 2018).

These sky-rocking numbers clearly manifest that mental health problems are one
of the most pressing worldwide health issues that the we are facing today, thus we should
take a responsibility in breaking the stigma of it.

Destigmatizing and overcoming mental health disorder is one of the main themes
of the story, I Kill Giants written by Joe Kelly. It shows how the young Barbara Thorson
sought to fight her own demons inside and conquer all the adversities she encountered
along the way. It raised awareness to the readers that children can be suffering from
mental health problem in a very young age because of several contributing factors that
they experienced in their childhood.

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 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS
Faculty of Arts and Letters
España, Manila, Philippines

THESIS STATEMENT

The main character, Barbara Thorson might be suffering from a mental disorder.

This claim is supported with three evidences:

1. Creating illusions and imaginations.

2. Early Signs of schizophrenic personality.
3. The giants.

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 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS
Faculty of Arts and Letters
España, Manila, Philippines

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Climatologist (n) - atmospheric scientists who study the Earth's climate.

Dalai Lama (n) - the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism and, until the establishment of
Chinese communist rule, the spiritual and temporal ruler of Tibet.

Falstaff (n) - a fat, convivial, roguish character in Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor
and Henry IV.

Giants (n) - an imaginary or mythical being of human form but superhuman size.

Lionhearted (adj.) - brave and determined.

Ogre (n) - a man-eating giant.

Pixie (n) - a mythical creature that resembles a mischievous fairy.

Retarded (adj) - less advanced in mental, physical, or social development than is usual
for one's age.
Titan (n) - a person who is very important, powerful, strong, big, clever, etc.

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 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS
Faculty of Arts and Letters
España, Manila, Philippines

BACKGROUND OF THE NOVEL

I Kill Giants was written by Joe Kelly and illustrated by JM Ken Niimura talks about
the fear of death, dysfunctional life, unwanted past, doubts and anxiety and how to
overcome it.

The story told how death is a hard thing, especially for young children to deal with.
This is what the main character, Barbara Thorson, have to face. Barbara is a fifth grader
with a troubled reputation at school and an outcast obsessed with killing giants.

Barbara sees the world she was in as a danger of roaming giants. She vows to
protect herself and others by killing those giants but little did she know, that these battles
are really with herself and the giants are symbols of her fears, doubts and anxiety that will
eventually help her to accept with her mother’s ailing condition and her dysfunctional life
together with her two siblings. It’s a literal battle of the inner demons and Barbara slowly
accepting the inevitable outcome.

She uses fantasy to navigate her harsh reality. She sees giants, talks with fairies,
and lives in an otherworldly reality. She believes that running away to a fantasy is better
than facing a dysfunctional life at home with a dying mother, her siblings, and overworked
sister. All throughout the story, she tries to deal with the tragedies in her life by using her
fantasies as an escape from her dreaded reality. Eventually, as a way to channel her
emotions, she characterizes the giants as the villains – the demons that’ll destroy
everything in her life.

The giants are often portrayed as these large, dark creatures that Barbara sees as
a threat. They represent all of Barbara’s fears, anxieties, and despair, eventually
manifesting into a colossal giant called the Titan. It’s at the comic’s climax where Barbara
accepts the monster for what it is and realizes she must meet her mother with what little
time she has left. She defeats the Titan by acknowledging that they weren’t the bad guys
in her life after all.

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 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS
Faculty of Arts and Letters
España, Manila, Philippines

Regarding her mother, the comic uses an interesting method to depict her. When
Barbara’s at home, still unable to cope with what’s happening to her, she’d often notice
her mother moaning her name like a dying ghoul upstairs. In one instance, the mother is
drawn as a dark, brooding creature strapped to a table and a figure Barbara fears. In
reality, she’s bedridden because of her treatment and Barbara’s maturity and change in
perspective humanizes her as she embraces her a final time.

I Kill Giants works in a metaphor regarding the story of early 20th century baseball
pitcher Harry Coveleski. He is a figure Barbara admires for his brave determination to
outpitch a then potent New York Giants team, even though he was an unproven.
Coveleski’s spirit is embodied in a toy hammer Barbara keeps as a precious item very
much connected to her. It symbolizes her childhood and the strength to overcome and
slay giants. She proves her growth by letting go of the hammer and burying it alongside
her mother’s coffin (Moo, 2019).

DISCUSSION

I Kill Giants talks about mental health disorder that are rooted from childhood
traumas, tragic past, fears and anxieties. Barbara Thorson, the main character of the
novel is suffering from mental health disorder because as seen in the comic she was

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Faculty of Arts and Letters
España, Manila, Philippines

creating illusions and being imaginative that giants there are real
and she’s going to haunt and kill them.

Barbara used her imaginations to deal with stress in lieu of logic and experience
she find as she conquers her reality. For many young people, getting caught up in a
fantasy is the only way they can cope, and eventually confront, a troubling reality. Through
her imagination and creation of illusions, Barbara escapes her unhappy home life and
dives into a fantasy where she protects everyone from large, destructive humanoids
(Francisco, 2018).

It was also said that since Barbara came from a low-income and dysfunctional
family with a neglectful brother, a dying mother and an estranged older sister, who works
overtime to provide for them, these factors affect her behavior and wellbeing as a child.
Thus, Barbara relies on her imagination, powered by her love for storytelling and
mythology to escape from her harsh reality.

According to Dr. Kress (2018), humans tend to rely on learned experiences to cope
up with stress and personal troubles. When faced with challenges, they know how they
handle these before of the experiences of the people around them. However, for the
children like Barbara, their lack of experience happens to be their greatest strength. A
child who has limited experience tends to be more creative and curious on how to deal
with the adversities they experience along the way and one of it is creating stories and
imaginations in their head.

For Barbara, the world she lives in, the world that shapes who she is, is the product
of both outside, with the fear and stress of her mom’s cancer, and inside with the daunting,
but manageable threats of giants (Huston, 2009).

Another factor to consider why Barbara is suffering from a mental disorder is her
schizophrenic personality. The novel seeks to answer if Barbara is actually seeing a

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Faculty of Arts and Letters
España, Manila, Philippines

parallel world, or if she is actually in the early stages of

schizophrenia or some other serious mental disorder.

It tells how Barbara an alienated and socially awkward fifth grader who always gets
bullied, creates an imaginative stories and illusions about giants and dark magic. These
instances make people call her freak, weird and insane, which is also the reason why she
has a repressive behavior towards her classmates and why she caught the attention of
her school psychologist. It can be seen, that because of these imaginations, Barbara
becomes delusional on her reality.

It can also be seen in the novel that she kept on insisting to her new-found friend,
Sophia and their school psychologist Mrs. Molle that there are giants and she’s going to
haunt and kill them. When every time they deny the existence of these giants, Barbara
becomes more eager to prove that giants are real and that she has to protect them from
those. She believes that giants are real and their apocalypse is near that she even made
weapons to destroy them. She can even hear the voices of the giants which turned out to
be a tornado only during the storm. (Wilson, 2019).

These indeed can be signs of early Schizophrenic behavior. Schizophrenia is type

of mental disorder characterized by abnormal behavior, strange speech and decreased
ability to understand reality. Other symptoms of this includes false beliefs, unclear or
confused thinking, hearing voices that do no exist, reduced social engagement and
emotional expression and lack of motivations (WHO, 2015).

Lastly, since Barbara is a delusional and an imaginative girl, she believes that there
are giants, however, the giants she was pertaining to are not real and just mere products
of her imagination. No one considers the possibility that she’s actually facing down giants
— because giants don’t exist.

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 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS
Faculty of Arts and Letters
España, Manila, Philippines

Barbara explains, “A giant comes to a place and takes

everything from you, and when it’s done, it’s like anything that made your life good was
never even there.” Those giants can also be referred to as the people who doubted,
mocked ridiculed and judged Barbara. It can also depict that giants are meant to
symbolize depression (Berger, 2018).

These giants are Barbara’s distorted reality that whether she like or not, she has
to face and defeats. These giants are also metaphors of what she’s scared of in her life—
loneliness, grief, loss, death, being bullied, not finding a sense of belonging and, of
course, not being accepted and loved. In the latter part of the story, the novel also showed
an image of a titan that means impending death of Barbara’s ailed mother. (Matadeen,
2018).

She was so eager to kill the giants not realizing she was the only person who can
see giants because the truth is, those were hers. The giants live inside her. It exists; not
physically but emotionally and psychologically.

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 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS
Faculty of Arts and Letters
España, Manila, Philippines

LITERARY PERSPECTIVE OF THE NOVEL

The graphic novel I Kill Giants can be interpreted through character/psychological

perspective. Character perspective deals with the psychological and internal motives and
factors of the main character of the story.

The novel told that Barbara’s internal motive is to haunt the giants and kill them
because she thinks that these giants are going to destruct her and her loved ones. Those
giants become Barbara’s motivation to be stronger and fearless because she wants to
defeat all of them. She eventually realizes that those giants are not what she thought it
was but rather those are reflections of her troubles, worries and past that will kill her if she
allows them to overcome her. In the latter part, those giants helped Barbara to accept her
mother’s impending death—the only motivation and reason why she chose to conquer all
adversities along the way. However, the downward side of these giants to Barbara’s
character and behavior is that she started to be repressive and aloof that made her
classmates to bully her and call her names such as, “freak,” “weirdo,” and “lunatic.”

In the end, those psychological and internal battles shown in the novel helped in
shaping Barbara’s character especially after her mother’s death, those giants helped her
to live and conquer life again.

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 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS
Faculty of Arts and Letters
España, Manila, Philippines

CONCLUSION

Mental health disorder is one of the most prevalent health issues that our world is
experiencing. Mental health disorder is rooted from fears, traumas, stress and tragic
incidents that we experience as we grow up; and as this issue becomes a global problem,
we should start in destigmatizing it.
One of the ways in destigmatizing this is accepting, coping and fighting it. Each
one of us has our own fears, traumas and uncertainties. We are all victims, we are our
past humanized; but it will never be a reason to not move forward and keep on victimizing
ourselves, only to keep hurting the present and the future obscure.
Challenges and obstacles in our life are inevitable. For as long we live, we have to
fight countless of battles, face failures, experience hardships, get scarred bruised and
wounded, but we should continue to live life the best as we could. As what Joe Kelly said,
“All things that live, die. This is why you must find joy in the living, while the time is yours,
and not fear the end. To deny this is to deny life. To fear this... is to fear life.”
Giants symbolize as our fears, problems, doubts and anxieties, but they also help
us to overcome all those personal troubles by making us strong, brave and fearless.
Giants are reminder of how we should fight, live and continue our life even against all
odds. We may face giants who’ll try to stop, break and discourage us, but we’ll be able
to overcome them. We just have to have a strong mind, a brave soul and a heart, and a
faith in yourself, and everything will be well.
Let these giants be our inspiration and motivation, and not become our destruction
to keep on going. These giants shouldn’t define who we are as a person as we battle with
them but rather it should define who we are after we defy them. We are strong, because
we choose to fight with our demons, we choose to live up with our fears and survive all
storms we encounter just like what Barbara Thorson did.
To all the doubtful, feared, anxious and troubled; to all those who are suffering
from mental health illness and to everyone fighting their own giants, you are stronger than
you think. Live and conquer life as a victor. You are a valiant legion. Just like what the
film Finding Dory said, “Just keep swimming.” Swim until you survive the rage of storm.

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 UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS
Faculty of Arts and Letters
España, Manila, Philippines

BIBLIOGRAPHY CITATIONS

Berger, L. (2018, January 29). Trailer Watch: A Girl Decides to Live as a Warrior in “I Kill Giants”.
Retrieved from Women and Hollywood : https://womenandhollywood.com/trailer-watch-a-girl-
decides-to-live-as-a-warrior-in-i-kill-giants-4a52f7704f55/

Bitsko, Perou. et al. (2013, May 16). Data and Statistics on Children's Mental Health. Retrieved from
Center for Disease Control and Prevention:
https://www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/data.html

Francisco, E. (2018, March 25). Kill Giants' Screenwriter Explains How Child Psychology Shaped the Story.
Retrieved from Inverse: inverse.com/article/42769-i-kill-giants-child-psychology-trauma

Ghandour, R et al. (2018 ). Prevalence and treatment of depression, anxiety, and conduct problems in
U.S. children. . The Journal of Pediatrics, 2018. . Retrieved from Center for Disease Control and
Prevention.

Holland, K. (2018, May 1). What Triggers Anxiety? 11 Causes That May Surprise You. Retrieved from
Healthline : https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety/anxiety-triggers

Matadeen, R. (2018, March 26 ). I Kill Giants Delivers the Most Powerful Lesson Ever Seen in a Comic
Book Movie. Retrieved from CBR: https://www.cbr.com/i-kill-giants-message-fear-anxiety/2/

Moo, W. (2019, April` 10). Face Your Demons: Overcoming Grief in “I Kill Giants”. Retrieved from Comics
MNT : https://www.comicsmnt.com/?p=2137

Wilson, S. L. (2018, June 3). 'I Kill Giants' Is a Sensitive Film About a Nerd Queen Giant Slayer. Retrieved
from The Instillery : https://www.the-instillery.com/story/i-kill-giants-is-a-sensitive-film-about-
a-nerd-queen-giant-slayer

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